haskins



Sept. 24, 1929. B. J. HASKINS BATTERY CHARGING BENCH Filed March 15, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet NM 4 Rkg P i E NE; QQSOQ A .w El

P 1929. B. J. HASKINS 1,729,109

BATTERY CHARGING BENCH Filed March 15, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 24, 1929 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE BUTLER J. HASKINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH WEIDENHOFF,

INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS BATTERY-CHARGING BENCH Application filed March 15, 1928. Serial No. 261,989.

This invention relates to charging benches The knife or blade 19 is made of a suitable for use in charging electric storage batteries shunt material so that a definite length of it particularly such as are used in gasoline autogives a definite resistance. On this blade is obile mounted a laterally projecting member 24 An object of the invention is to provide an which is secured thereto by means of a rivet arrangement of leads on the bench panel 25. A second laterally projecting member which will lend itself readily to the work of 26 is adj ustably secured to the switch blade charging batteries and one which at the same 19 by means of a screw 27 which is adj ustably time is simple and economical to build. mounted in the. slot 28 in the switch blade 19.

Another objebt is the provision of simpli- Thus the member 26 may be adjusted to pro- 60 fied switch arrangement in charging benches \idc calibrated resistance between the momand one which permits an ammcter to read hers 24 and 26 since from this resistance is the actual instant Charging rate of any batdetermined the quantity of current flowing tery on charge and under actual charging as will later be described. The screw 27 is conditions. connected to the cable 23 through a small 65 These and other objects as will hereinafter flexible braided connector 29. appear are accomplished by this invention An ammeter A is mounted upon a block 30 which is fully described in the following which is slidable back and forth on the top specification and shown in the accompany- Of the panel 11 so as to bring the amn'ieter in ing drawings, in which: front of the knife switch of any station which 70 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a. double itis desired to test.- This is accomplished charging bench embodying the invention by placing a metal track 31 on top of the panel Fig. 2 is a wiring diagram of the same; and 11 and providing the block with suitably Fig. 3 is an enlarged section through the journalled and flanged wheels 32 which run panel on the line 3 of Fig. 1. on this track. The an'nneter A is provided The embodiment illustrated comprises a with a tube 33 whiclrcxtends forwardly and charging bench having a table. 10 with a cendownwardly and through this pass two flextrally disposed panel 11 secured above the ible cables 3 1 which are connected to an intable by means of end posts 12. This panel sulated block 35, one of the cables 34 being 30 11 is usually made up of boards secured toconnected to a pair of spaced contacts 36 and 80 gether with nails or bolts. A positive bus' the other to a pair of spaced contacts 37. bar 13 is secured to the central panel 11, by These contacts are made of sheet. metal and means of screws 14 or the like and this extends adapted to engage over the laterally projectthroughout the length of the panel shown ing members 24 and 26 on the blade 19 so i Fig, 1, Th negative bus-bar 15 is likewise as to make direct electrical contact therewith. 35 secured to the lower part of the panel 11 by Carefully calibrating the resistance of the means of bolts 16. These bolts also serve to blade 19 between the members 24 and 26 and hold one of the flexible cables 17. knowing the potential applied to the bus- Adjacent each bolt 16 on the bus-bar 15 bars 13 and 15, a properly selected meter A is a switch contact 18 on the bus-bar 13, each connected to the flexible cables 34 will read the contact being adapted to receive a knife amount of current. flowing through the knife switch 19 which is hingedly mounted at 20 switch 19 in amperes.

on a. switch bracket 21 which is connected W'here a three wire charging system is used through a metal bar 22 with the positive flcx- .for charging at both a seven and one-half volt ible cable 23. This knife switch and mountand fifteen volt potentials a similar arrangeing are carried on an insulating block .21 ment of parts is made upon the reverse side which is secured to the panel. Each pair of of the panel as shown in Fig. 3. In this case cables is sometimes called a station and the intermediate or neutral wire from the serves for the charging of a six voltstorage generator is connected to the bus-bar 15 and battery. this through the bolt 16 is connected to the corresponding bus-bar 15. The negative bus-bar 13 then being at a potential difference of 15 volts from that of the bus-bar 13.

The meter A is mounted on the block 30 so as to swing about a vertical pivot. In this way the arm 33 is turned with the meter from the full to the dotted line position at the will of the operator so that one meter serves for all of the stations on both sides of the panel.

One great advantage of this arrangement is that once the knife switch 19 is closed the operator by inserting the meter switch 35 is able to read the actual amount of current passing through the battery. It therefore there is a better contact anywhere in the switch of any particular battery, the defect will show up immediately by a diminished charging rate.. If the operator is not sure as to whether the trouble is in the switch or in the battery he can move the battery to the next charging station and repeat the test. When the meter. switch 35 is not in use it hangs suspended from the arm 33, as shown in dotted line in Fig. 3. The contacts 36 and 37 of the meter switch are made parallel as are also the members 24 and 26 with which they are placed in contact so that a small longitudinal adjustment is permitted of the member 26.

YVhen it is desired to charge a 12-volt battery it is placed across the outside busbars 13 and.13 through suitable connectors 17. In Figs. 1 and 2, the battery B is shown hooked up for charging at a 6-volt rate.

The instrument A is in reality a millivolt meter which however is calibrated with the resistance between the members 24 and 26 so that it reads directly in terms of the current strength actually flowin g through the switch.

Vhile I have shown and described but a single embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes therefore in the construction and arrangement may be made which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a battery charging panel, a board, two charging bus-bars insulated from each other, a series of switches each adapted to make Contact with one of said bars during the operation of charging a battery, a lead from said switch to the battery to be charged, a lead from the other bar to said battery, the blade of said switch being a resistance element with contacts at separated points, an ammeter having members adapted to make electrical contact with any pair of said contacts to cause the ammeter to indicate the amount of current passing through any given switch.

2. In a battery charging panel, a board, two

charging bus-bars insulated from each other,

a series of switches each adapted to make contact with one of said bars during the operation of charging a battery, a lead from said switch to the battery to be charged, a lead from the other bar to said battery, the blade of said switich being a resistance element having apair of contacts thereon, one of said contacts being adj ustable'thereon to vary the resistance of that portion of the blade between cont-acts, an ammeter having members adapted to make electrical contact with any pair of" said contacts to cause the ammeter to indicate the amount of current passing through any given switch.

3. In a battery charging panel, two busbars for carrying electric current, a lead from one bus-bar to a battery to be charged, a knife switch adapted to connect the other bar to a lead to a battery to be charged, the blade of said knife switch being'a' resistance element, a meter, and means connecting said meter in parallel with a portion of said blade to cause the meter to indicate the strength of current flowing therethrough.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of March, 1928.

BUTLER J. HASKINS. 

